Takumi Minamino’s move to Southampton on deadline day came as a shock to many considering the fact that the Japan international had been tipped to play a somewhat minor role in Jurgen Klopp’s first-team ranks at Anfield in the remainder of the 2020-21 season.
Severe lack of game-time in the Reds shirt for Minamino of late, despite the recent string of uninspiring showings from fellow fringe forward Divock Origi, was believed to be a factor behind the former RB Salzburg man sealing a move away from Merseyside until the end of the top-flight campaign.
Speaking ahead of his team playing hosts to Brighton on Wednesday, Jurgen Klopp echoed similar sentiments as the Liverpool FC boss asserted that when a club of Southampton’s calibre came calling, it became tough for the Merseysiders not to offload Minamino in a loan deal, one which would largely benefit the 26-year-old through increased time on the pitch.
“Southampton came up and there were not a lot of clubs where I thought it really makes sense to let him go, but Southampton makes a lot of sense,” said Klopp in his pre-match interview.
“He is there for 17 games now and in the situation Southampton is, if Takumi stays fit he has a good chance to play 17 games, which helps everybody.
“It helps Southampton and helps us, because the only thing Takumi was lacking was a couple of games in a row. And it was a difficult year.
“I would have loved to keep him, just to have the option and stuff like this, but in the end because Takumi is a long-term project and always was – we see really a lot of potential in Takumi – it makes absolute sense that he gets now the chance to play maybe 17 games, Premier League games, and then comes back in a completely different mindset, confidence level, all these kind of things.
Since his joining the Anfield outfit in January 2020, Minamino had registered a sole goal for the Merseysiders in all of his 19 Premier League outings, which came during Liverpool FC running riot at Selhurst Park earlier this season.
